We will be using that partition later on. I?d also make 1 partition called ?Tools? and make that quite large. This way in the future you can return and make more setup partitions if you wish. Whatever is left I would leave as unpartitioned space. You want to make each setup Partition 4 gigs in size using the file system NTFS. Now right click the unpartitioned space and left click ?New Simple Volume?. When finished you should have one giant area called ?unpartitioned space?. Once you find the external hard drive in the list, delete all the drives partitions. We don?t want you accidentally deleting and partitioning the wrong drive, because that would suck.

When you select your external hard drive make SURE it?s your external hard drive. This will show you all the hard drives / partitions on your system. Or just open up the run box (Windows key +R) and type compmgmt.msc and press enter. Also create a 20 gig Tools partition.įor everyone else follow these instructions.įirst open up ?Computer Management? You can find it in the control panel under Administrative tools / Computer management. Make each install partition 4 gigs using the NTFS file system. If you already know how to do this, then create a partition for each Windows Install you wish to put on the drive. Next you have to partition your USB Hard drive. I recommend a USB hard drive instead of a large thumb drive because the transfer rates will generally be a lot better. The first thing you need to do is get yourself an spare external hard drive. So for this guide we will only be focusing on Windows Vista/7/8. I was able to install XP off a usb stick once upon a time, but the speed was so slow, a CD would have been faster. The instructions in this guide pertain to Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 only. *Warning, content Beyond this point may make you wet yourself.* The first one that came to mind was EasyBCD. I knew I?d probably have to use some kind of Boot loader software. Then I thought, wouldn?t it be nice if I had 1 hard drive that when booted would give me an option as to which Operating system I wanted to install?

So I would always revert back to using individual cd / dvds. I?ve installed all of those operating systems off an usb key at one time or another, but I would either loose the sticks or the labels would rub off and I would never be sure which usb key had which OS on it. Then I thought, hmmm I wonder if it would be possible to put all the setup files for Vista 32/64 and 7 32/64 all onto the same external hard drive and install windows from that. I wanted to put it to use but I couldn?t really think of anything to use it for. I recently had a spare 250 gig 2.5 external hard drive lying around my shop.

How to create an easybcd bootable usb